New Regulations Cost $181.5 Billion in 2014

January 7, 2015

Last year, federal agencies proposed and finalized $181.5 billion worth of regulations. Sam Batkins, Director of Regulatory Policy at the American Action Forum, has analyzed the 79,066 pages of new regulations, which threaten higher prices for consumers and new burdens on businesses.

What's in that $181.5 billion?

Agencies imposed annual regulatory costs of $16.9 billion in 2014.

Six regulations carry an annual impact of more than $1 billion.

The most expensive rules came from the EPA. These include the agency's Clean Power Plan, which would raise electricity prices by 6 percent by 2020 and costs $8.8 billion, and its ozone proposal, which could cost up to $15 billion.

Two of the top 10 most expensive rules came from the Department of Energy, with new regulations on fluorescent lamps and electric motors -- both of which will raise consumer prices, says Batkins. The agency quantified costs for 14 regulations that add $3.6 billion in annual regulatory burdens.

The Department of Transportation is requiring new cars to come equipped with rear-view cameras, costing $924 million each year while yielding just $595 million in benefits.

Other expensive regulations came in finance and health care -- Dodd Frank added $16.7 billion in costs in 2014, while regulations related to the Affordable Care Act added 1.9 billion.

According to Batkins, the $181.5 billion cost is equal to $567 per American and a staggering $726 million for each day the government was open in 2014.